Amazon, eBay sales growth slower in December

Staff at the Amazon fulfilment centre in Wales process orders as they prepare their busiest time of the year.
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ChannelAdvisor said on Tuesday that client sales growth on Amazon.com's and eBay's online marketplaces slowed in December.

ChannelAdvisor reported that client sales on Amazon.com grew 29.8 per cent in December, compared with the same month last year. That year-over-year growth rate was down from November's rate of 43.7 per cent.

The ecommerce platform provider also reported that client sales on eBay.com rose 22.2 per cent in December, compared with a year earlier. November's growth was 27.4 per cent.

ChannelAdvisor helps merchants sell more on websites such as Amazon.com, eBay.com and Google's shopping site. Investors watch the firm's data closely because it provides an early window into the performance of the leading US ecommerce companies.

The December results suggest a slowdown from Thanksgiving and the days following, which include crucial holiday shopping days known as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

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For the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, which ChannelAdvisor calls the "Cyber Five," client sales on eBay.com rose 38.3 per cent compared with the same days in 2011. Client sales on Amazon.com jumped 37.7 per cent over that five-day period.

The US holiday shopping seasons online got off to a strong start, but weakened after that. Online spending grew 14 per cent for the whole season, compared with an estimate of 16 percent before the season began, according to comScore.

ComScore blamed the sluggishness on weaker consumer confidence declines fueled by prolonged fiscal cliff negotiations by US politicians to avoid tax hikes and spending cuts that many feared would cause a recession.